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                           Vol.4, No.2 [*] January 8, 1999
                           -------------------------------

               It's not the world that's got so much worse but
                 the news coverage that's got so much better.
                              - G K Chesterton
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

1  ARABINDA ACCEPTED GOVERNOR'S MEDIATION: MAHANTA        [S:8-JAN-99]
   -----------------------------------------------
   Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said, the  ULFA  supremo  has
   responded  positively  to  the  initiative  of  the  Assam Governor
   S.K.Sinha to start negotiations with the Government and welcomed it
   as a positive development.  He said, efforts are on  to  bring  the
   NDFB  and  the  BLT  too,  to the negotiating table and already the
   process had been started.
   
   Talking to newsmen at Nagaon on January 7, Mr Mahanta brushed aside
   the  news report about State Government's emissaries having gone to
   London to talk to ULFA leaders as figment  of  imagination  of  the
   reporters.  (See report on AOL dated 4-Jan-99.)

   About the growing  activities  of  Islamic  militants  outfits,  Mr
   Mahanta  said,  the  State  Government is fully alive to it and has
   already taken special steps to contain them.  Asked to  comment  on
   the  Bharatiya  Janata Party's demand for banning these outfits, he
   said, the police is capable enough to tackle them without a ban.
   
2  CONTRACT FOR DISPUR CAPITAL COMPLEX THIS MONTH         [S:5-JAN-99]
   ----------------------------------------------
   The  allotment  of  works for construction of the Rs.600-million of
   the first phase of the new capital complex at Dispur is  likely  to
   be finalized in the early part of January even though the selection
   of the contracting party has not be completed yet.
   
   A  meeting  of  the  selection  committee headed by Chief Secretary
   Pranab Kumar Bora on December 29 failed to decide on the party  out
   of  17  contractor-firms,  all  from  outside the State, which have
   submitted their bids for the project to be awarded  on  a  turn-key
   basis.  
   
   Already a long time has elapsed on the selection of the  party  and
   any  further  delay might result in the lapse of the Rs.600-million
   fund already released by the Centre in accordance with the award of
   the Tenth Finance Commission.  The recommendation of the Commission
   is valid for only one more year and if the  fund  is  not  utilized
   within that period, it will go back to the Centre, further delaying
   the project, sources said.
   
   The  delay  has  given  rise  to a lot of table-talk in the offices
   concerned that the Assam Government, which has sought Rs.10 billion
   from the Centre for the project, is not in a position to spend even
   Rs.600 million.
   
3  CENTRE ASKS OIL, RELIANCE TO CLINCH DEAL BY JAN 31     [S:8-JAN-99]
   --------------------------------------------------
   The  Union Government has imposed the deadline of January 31 on the
   Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and the Oil India  Limited  (OIL)
   for   thrashing   out   the  vexed  gas-supply  agreement  for  the
   gas-cracker project at Tengakhat in Dibrugarh  district  and  asked
   the RIL to start the works of the project soon thereafter. Both the
   parties have, accordingly, initiated the process to clinch the deal
   within the deadline, official sources at Dispur said on January 7.

   The  parties  have set up team of experts to work out the agreement
   which basically related to an undertaking by the OIL that it  would
   supply  the  gas uninterruptedly beyond the initial 20 years during
   which the gas would be provided at concessional rates.
   
   But  the  OIL  is reportedly not amenable to the idea of making any
   such commitment.    The  RIL  is  insisting  that  the   gas-supply
   agreement must  be  bankable.  Is is seeking some guarantees on the
   continuous supply of the gas in view  of  the  fact  that  the  gas
   production in Assam has been lower than the projected availability.
   The RIL and the OIL had nine rounds of negotiations on the issue.
   
4  ULFA LEADER BHASKAR BARUAH DENIES REPORTS              [S:5-JAN-99]
   -----------------------------------------
   ULFA  leader  Bhaskar  Baruah  alias  Nityananda  Mahanta  who  was
   arrested  in  Nagaon  on  December 25 and who hit the headlines for
   allegedly  having   confessed   before   the   police   that   ULFA
   commander-in-chief  Paresh Baruah's son is studying in Canada, that
   Rashmi Bora's murder was a personnel vendetta and that the  killing
   of  AVARD-NE  secretary  Sanjoy  Ghose  had  no  approval  from the
   outfit's central committee, stoutly denied the statements purported
   to have been made by him to police.  (See AOL dated 4-Jan-99.)
   
   In a rejoinder issued on January 4 from the Nagaon jail where he is
   lodged,  with  the  seal  of the Nagaon jail superintendent, Baruah
   denied  all  the  statements  attributed  to   him   and   demanded
   publication of the `so-called confessional statement.'
   
   Meanwhile, the Nagaon Deputy  Commissioner,  Mr  Syedin  Abbasi  on
   January 7 admitted that the publication of the rebuttal by the ULFA
   leader  of his alleged confessional statement in the newspapers was
   a serious lapse on the part of the jail authorities.  The  Director
   General of Prisons has arrived Nagaon to investigate the case.

5  MASS DECLARES MAHESH NATH `JATIYA SWAHID'             [AT:7-JAN-99]
   ----------------------------------------
   The former organizing secretary of the Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti
   (MASS), a human rights organization, late Mahesh Nath  of  Golapara
   has  been  declared  `national martyr' for his supreme sacrifice of
   laying down his life for the cause of human rights.
   
   A  MASS release said that it will burn the effigy of the Assam Home
   Minister on January 11 in protest  against  killings  committed  by
   surrendered  ULFA  members  under  active patronization of the Home
   Department.  The `so-called secret killer' have lately  started  to
   target  MASS  activists  besides  ULFA  cadres,  their families and
   sympathizers, a release from MASS stated.
   
6  TEA PLANTER OF ATHABARI TEA ESTATE HACKED TO DEATH     [S:7-JAN-99]
   --------------------------------------------------
   A young tea planter of Athabari tea estate in Golaghat, Pranabjyoti
   Saikia (23) was hacked to  death  by  one  Chamra  Urdong  and  his
   brother at Kathiatali village in Kamarbandha area at around 8 pm on
   January 5.

   According to police, when Pranab had gone to the  house  of  Urdong
   with  a  scooter  along  with one of his colleagues, Urdong and his
   brother came out with axe and sticks and hacked Pranab to death  in
   a  field after chasing him a long way. Pranab's colleague, however,
   managed to flee and reported the  matter  to  the  police.  A  land
   dispute was the reason behind the killing.
   
7  STRIKE AFFECTS NE TV PROGRAMMES                       [AT:7-JAN-99]
   -------------------------------
   The 72-hour nationwide strike by the Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti,  the
   common  platform  for  radio  and television engineering employees,
   from January 6  affected  the  transmission  from  Doordarshan  and
   Programme Production  Centre  (Northeast),  Guwahati.   The morning
   live news could not be telecast on January 6.
   
   The strike was called to press the demand for enhancement of pay as
   agreed by the Prasar Bharati in November 1997.   Secretary  of  the
   Association  of  Radio  and  Television  Engineering  Employees, Mr
   N.K.Deka  claimed  that  recording  at   Doordarshan   studio   has
   `completely'  stopped,  adding  that the strike would be `continued
   further' if demands are not fulfilled.
   
8  BRAILLE LIBRARY FOR BLIND OPENED IN GUWAHATI         [UNI:4-JAN-99]
   --------------------------------------------
   Dristidan Braille and Information Centre, the first of its kind for
   the  blind in the Northeast was inaugurated in Guwahati by renowned
   dramatist Mahendra Borthakur and noted filmmaker  Jhanu  Baruah  on
   January 4 coinciding with the birth anniversary of Louis Braille.
   
   The  Braille  library  has  a  number  of  books  and  national and
   international magazines in  Braille  which  include  journals  like
   Readers Digest  and  Torch.  The library was set up by Dristidan, a
   voluntary organization for the welfare of the  blind  children  and
   their financial security.
   
   Dristidan general secretary, Kishore Mohan  Bhattacharyya,  himself
   blind  and lecturer of history in Gauhati University, informed that
   the unique institution would help the blind pursue  study  both  in
   the region  and  outside.    He  also  informed that scholarship of
   Rs.500 per month for six months to one blind student is provided by
   the Centre, and aimed at awarding five such scholarships very soon.
   
9  ASSAMESE BOOKS ON FICTION OUTSELLING ENGLISH          [AT:7-JAN-99]
   --------------------------------------------
   In  a  significant  development,  Assamese  books  on  fiction  are
   outselling  English  titles  of  the same genre in the ongoing 13th
   Guwahati Book Fair.  The main reason according to the organizers of
   the fair is the availability of a large number of  Assamese  titles
   from various authors and comparatively high price of English books.
   
   Arun Sarma's Sahitya Academy Award-winning  novel  Ashirbadar  Rang
   had  run out of stock by the third day of the fair which started on
   December 27.  Fiction titles is closely followed by academic  books
   along with  children's  books,  both  in English and Assamese.  The
   numbers of visitors to the fair every day was about 12,000.
   
10 NATIONAL YOUTH AWARD TO RURAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION      [S:8-JAN-99]
   -------------------------------------------------
   The All  Assam  Rural  Libraries  Association  (Xadou  Axom  Gramya
   Puthibhoral  Xantha)  has  bagged  the  National  Youth  Award  for
   1997-98, instituted by the Ministry of Sports  and  Youth  Welfare.
   The  award, carrying cash prize of Rs.100,000, will be presented at
   a function in Lucknow on January 12 by the Prime Minister.

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